51. fall apart
QUINN
'I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN,' BETH SIGHED, shuffling after Quinn and Daryl through the hallway.
'Maybe you could just lift her up,' Quinn grinned, looking at Daryl.
The man sighed deeply before walking towards Beth and lifting her up in his arms. The girl laughed as he walked towards the kitchen where Quinn had put a meal together for them all earlier. She followed them inside the room, watching as Daryl set Beth down a chair, before sitting down herself.
'So, what's on the menu today?' Beth asked, smiling at Quinn.
She cleared her throat before pointing to the table. 'Well, we've got peanut butter with pig's feet and diet coke.' Falling silent she frowned, once the words settled in she realised how disgusting that actually sounded.
'All right,' Daryl broke the silence, clearly not bothered by the weird combination of food, 'let's eat.'
Shaking her head, she supressed a smile and reached for the peanut butter jar but just as she was about to open it the sound of rattling cans came from outside. Her hand immediately went to her dagger as her entire body tensed up.
Daryl stood up, reaching for his crossbow before pointing at Beth. 'Stay.' Then he turned around and ran to the front door with Quinn on his heels.
He threw a glare over his shoulder at her as she stood with her dagger raised, she nodded at him, making him turn back forwards and open the door slowly. She took a step forwards, her eyes widening when she saw what had made the cans rattle.
'It's just a damn dog,' Daryl called out to Beth before kneeling down and trying to get the animal closer. But the dog just barked before running off.
'He wouldn't come in?' Beth's voice came from behind them, making the two of them turn around while Daryl closed the door again.
'I told you to stay back,' Daryl said.
'Yeah,' she started, 'but, Daryl, you said there was a dog.'
'Maybe he'll come back,' Quinn said then gestured towards the door. 'Come on, I've got a whole jar of peanut butter waiting for me.'
They headed back towards the kitchen, taking a seat behind the table again and started to eat their meal. Quinn was too hungry to worry about the weird combination of flavors.
'I'm gonna leave a thank you note,' Beth suddenly said, reaching into her pocket to take out the small diary she'd been carrying around.
'Why?' Daryl questioned.
'For when they come back,' Beth explained, 'if they come back. Even if they're not coming back I still want to say thanks.'
Quinn nodded at her before putting a spoon with jelly in her mouth, trying to hide her surprise upon seeing teenager being so completely innocent, even after all this time. It just would never stop surprising her.
'Maybe you don't have to leave that,' Daryl suddenly spoke up.
Frowning Quinn looked at the man. 'What are you saying?' She asked.
He shrugged. 'Maybe we stick 'round here for a while. They come back, we'll just make it work. I mean, they may be nuts but...maybe it'll be alright.'
'So, you do think there are still good people around?' Beth asked, a small smile lingering on her face. 'What changed your mind?'
'You know,' he said vaguely, quickly looking away from her, his eyes anyway but her or Quinn.
'What?' Beth teased, making Quinn smile.
He mumbled something she couldn't hear, giving a small shrug in the process. As if trying to shrug the uncomfortable conversation off him.
'Don't,' Beth said and imitated he noise he just made. 'What changed your mind?'
Quinn took a swig from the diet code as she watched Daryl stare at the teenage girl, unable to express it in words but she didn't need words to know what he meant. She had been feeling it too, ever since the night they got drunk and shared whatever was on their hearts.
And Beth seemed to realise it too as her smile slowly faded from her lips. 'Oh,' she said, looking away, almost in shame. It was because of her the two pessimists had started to see some light in the world again.
The silence that lingered between the three of them was becoming heavy when suddenly the cans they hung outside rattled again and the barks of a dog sounded.
Daryl put his jar down on the table. 'I'm gonna give that mutt one more chance,' he said before standing up and walking to the door.
Shaking her head Quinn looked at the teenage girl who still seemed to be a little umcomfortable from the conversation seconds before. 'He's right you know?' Quinn found herself saying, making the girl turn to look at her. 'You can be real inspiring sometimes, just like your dad.'
Beth's face lit up at that comment, making Quinn unable to hide her smile but it quickly faded when Daryl's paniced voice called out their names.
Immediately the two jumped up. Quinn reached for her daggers as Beth took the man's crossbow. They ran towards the hallway and she inhaled sharply upon seeing the walkers that were pushing against the door. Daryl gestured towards Beth and she threw him the bow.
'Run!' He screamed, then nodded at Beth. 'Get her outta here!'
Quinn didn't need to be told twice and grabbed Beth by the shoulder, turning her around and pushing her into a room, throwing the door shut behind them.
'Pry open a window, get your shit!' Daryl's muffled voice sounded through the walls as the snarls of the walkers grew louder. They were inside!
'We're not leaving you!' Beth screamed back at him through the walls.
'Go out. Go up the road I'll meet you there!' Daryl's voice came from somewhere inside the house, but it sounded far away. He was leading the walkers away from the room Quinn and Beth were in. Still, they couldn't stay here.
'Come on,' Quinn shouted at the teenage girl.
Without another word Beth gathered their bags as Quinn ran towards a window, trying to get it open. A frustrated scream left her lips when it wouldn't budge. Quickly her eyes scanned the room, landing on a chair. She ran towards it, taking it in her hands and threw it at the window, the glass shattering loudly. It gave them a way out, but would certainly draw attention of walkers, meaning they had to hurry.
'Hurry!' Quinn screamed as she took off her jacket and placed it on the window frame, so they wouldn't cut themselves on the remaining pieces of glass.
She helped Beth climb, who seemed to have a lot of trouble doing so because of her ankle. Groaning she pulled at Quinn's arm, finally managing to get herself up and through the window. Quinn quickly followed, landing in the damp grass. Turning around she took her jacket before looking forward again and pushing Beth against the shoulder to get her to start moving.
Walkers had gathered all over the graveyard and their loud snarls echoed through the evening air. She didn't understood where they all had came from so suddenly, but it didn't really matter. They were here now, meaning there was only one thing they could truly do.
'Run!' Quinn shouted at the girl, watching as she stumbled towards the road. Biting her tongue she raised her dagger, killing a walker that had come too close. Running after Beth she was suddenly yanked back by a walker talking a hold of her hair. A pained scream left her lips, making Beth turn around and shout out her name, panic on the edge of her voice.
'Keep going, I'm right behind you!' Quinn yelled back at the girl. She tried to turn around as the walker snarled into her ear. Her breathing became paniced as fear crawled through her stomach. She tightened her grip on the dagger before slamming it through his temple. Immediately the creature went limp, letting go of her hair and falling down in the grass.
Another walker stumbled towards her and raised her leg, kicking it in the chest so it fell down. And as she bent over it to kill it, a strange sound suddenly reached her ears and it took her a few seconds to figure out what it was.
As she stood up straight again, it finally settled in, she just hadn't heard it for so long, the roaring of a car engine.
Swiftly she turned around only to see the doors of a black car being shut before it started to drive away, leaving an empty road behind. The sight of it spreading an icy feeling of pure horror through her veins.
'No!' She screamed, her legs already running before she had even ordered them to. 'Beth!'
But it was useless, the car was driving away into the night.
Someone had taken Beth.
'Beth!' She shouted once again, although knowing it wouldn't do anything.
'Where is she?' Daryl's voice came from behind her. She turned to look at him, fighting to hold back her tears as she pointed at the black car driving away, frowning slightly upon noticing the white cross on the window.
'Beth!' Daryl screamed as he started running. 'Come on!' He shouted at Quinn, starting to run even faster.
Taking a shaky breath she ran after him, her heart aching as she pushed her feet to run faster. So fast, it felt like she was flying over the asphalt. 'Dammit! Beth!' She shouted, running after Daryl through the darkness.
She didn't know how long they were running, but when the sun had risen and the car engine had long faded in the distance, she knew it was useless to keep going. Her lungs were burning, her chest was aching, she couldn't keep this up.
'Daryl,' she panted, her voice shaky. 'P-please, stop.'
At first she thought he hadn't heard her, but finally he slowed down to a jog before stopping all together. She wanted to say something, tell him it was gonna be fine but she knew they would only be empty words. She didn't even believe it herself.
Bending over, she tried to get catch her breath when suddenly her stomach decided it was enough. Before she knew what was happening her last meal lay on the asphalt. She coughed, spitting on the ground to try and get rid of the taste in her mouth but it didn't leave and neither did the ache in her heart.
Looking up, she found Daryl staring at her, his gaze strangly empty and far away. And it made her heart crumble even further.
'It's my fault,' she mumbled, feeling her throat tighten as tears gathered in her eyes. 'I turned around a-and and...' Stumbling backwards she let herself fall down on the ground as tears streamed down her cheeks. 'It's my fault,' she repeated, her voice hoarse. She placed her head in her hands as her body trembled from the tears she was trying her hardest to hold back.
'It's my fault,' she whispered again.
'Stop it,' Daryl said roughly, his breathing uneven as well.
Slowly she lifted her gaze to look at him, watching as he aimlessly paced around before finally giving a frustrated kick against a branch and sitting down as well.
She gave a small shake of her head, looking away from him as the words kept on repeating themselves inside her head. A never ending reminder that she failed the stubborn teenage girl. Beth was gone and it was her fault.
She didn't know how long they sat there on the asphalt. Her entire body was cold and ached and yet she didn't move, she didn't have any energy left to do so. Daryl sat with his back against hers, both of them looking out to another side of the road to provide some sense of safety. But she was sure that if a walker came she wouldn't even have the energy to fight it off.
But there came no walkers. Instead the steady footsteps that could only belong to a living person sounded through the morning air. And when she listened closely she realised it couldn't be one person, it sounded more like a group.
Her hand slowly went to her belt, taking the hilt of her dagger in her hand, ready to pull it out at any given second. She knew Daryl must've heard them coming too but the man didn't move. Taking a shaky breath she kept on sitting still as a statue, ready to jump into action when he was.
'Well, lookit here,' a deep man's voice spoke.
The approaching people surrounded them in a circle. She kept her head low, her hair covering her face but she counted at least four. She could hear one of them coming closer, making her inhale sharply but suddenly Daryl lashed out, hitting the man across the face, sending him flying backwards before taking his crossbow and jumping up, standing steadily on both his feet.
Quinn followed his lead, throwing her hair out of her face as she pulled her dagger from her belt, holding it steady in her hand as she looked around the circle.
Six men had surrounded them, and every one of them had their weapons raised and pointed at Quinn and Daryl, who stood with their backs against each other to be able to see every movement the men would try to make. The very look in their eyes made shivers run down her spine. Hungry, greedy, dangerous....
'Damn it, hold up!' The man Daryl just hit down, shouted.
'I'm claiming the girl,' one of the men yelled making a shiver run down Quinn's spine, 'such a pretty thing shouldn't be left out here alone.' Laughter spread around the group, making her narrowed her eyes at them, taking another dagger in her other hand, holding both weapons tightly. These were exactly the kind of people she had tried her whole life to avoid, but somehow always ended up running into anyway.
'I'm claiming the vest,' another man holding a bow spoke, 'I like 'em wings.'
'Hold up,' the leader repeated and then suddenly started laughing.
Quinn threw a quick look over her shoulder to see the man standing up, wiping away the blood that had been dripping from his noise.
'A bowman,' he spoke before sighing deeply, 'I respect that. See, a man with a rifle, he could have been some kind of photographer or soccer coach back in the day. But a bowman's a bowman through and through. What you got there, 150-pound draw weight? I'll be donkey-licked if that don't fire at least 300 feet per second. I've been looking for a weapon like that.' He fell silent, making Quinn turn to look at him again. 'She with you?' He pointed at Quinn.
'Yeah,' Daryl said, his voice like steel. His certainty made her heart glow.
The leader laughed, extinguishing the glow in her heart and turning it to ice instead. 'There goes your price Tony,' he grinned.
'Got yourself a good one there, partner,' the man with the crossbow said, his eyes glued to her body like moths were drawn to a flame. It made her blood boil in rage.
The leader grinned then turned to look at Daryl again. 'You pull that trigger,' the leader spoke, 'these boys are gonna drop you several times over, your girlfriend too. That what you want? Come on, fella, suicide is stupid and a lady like that you gotta protect.'
Daryl still didn't respond and she could feel him standing still as a statue with his back pressed against hers. She wondered how he could remain so calm when her entire body was shaking. He didn't lower his crossbow, meaning she didn't lower her daggers. These man were nothing but trouble and every bone in her bone screamed for her to get the hell out of here, but she couldn't.
'Name's Joe,' the leader said, as if that was somehow suppose to calm them down.
She took a shaky breath when Daryl lowered his crossbow, but she wasn't planning on lowering her daggers. Not with the almost hungry looks these men were giving her.
'Daryl,' the redneck said.
The leader nodded. 'Alright there, Daryl, you can tell your girlfriend to relax.'
Quinn turned around to face him, her heart hammering in her chest. She wasn't okay with this, not in the slightest. When her eyes met his piercing blue ones he gave a small shake of his head, invisible hadn't she been standing so close to him. She stared right back at him, her eyes begging but she knew that if she wanted to live, she had no other choice. So, finally she sighed deeply before lowering her daggers, but they were still firmly in her fist.
Joe smirked. 'So, what's your name?'
'Quinn,' she sighed, looking at the leader. She couldn't guess his age but his hair had already turned grey and wrinkles covered his face. But his eyes were still sharp and wide awake and there was a certain coldness in there that made her want to turn around and run away.
He nodded at the two of them. 'Well, kids, welcome.'
It had been a long time since anyone called her kid, being thirty-one she'd outgrown that word long ago and the way he said it was enough for her to know he knew very well the two of them were dangerous. He just didn't care enough, which made her care all the more. They were dangerous and would bring them nothing but trouble...